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I live less than a mile from a Wal-Mart. It was the first one in town years ago, and has been the smallest for years. It is currently being expanded into a superstore, and I saw that the fabric department was coming back after being gone for several years. The superstore across town has never had fabrics that I know of. This might be a test for the one near me. Many of our local fabric stores have closed their doors in the last few years. I am hoping Wally World keeps it going. I have to go back and see if it has actually been stocked and opened yet.

Though, if you do find one, don't expect the employees to know anything about weights of fabric, tensile strength, or...well...pretty much anything related to our outdoor passion other than the cost of the fabric. This is true even at places like JoAnne's, which is a fabric store, not just a big-box department store that happens to carry fabric.

Hard to blame them, though; we're such a niche community that we probably don't even bring in 0.1% of total sales for a place like that.

Anyway, good luck in your search!

Yeah I went to my local fabric store, think it was Hancock fabrics or something like it. Asked the lady some questions about the 3 differnt types of Nylon she had and she just gave me a weird look. They have no idea what denier is I guess or ounces per yard. She said people come in their all the time asking those questions and looking for ripstop nylon. You would think if you have people constantly asking for a product you dont sell, that the light bulb would come on and you would start stocking the product.

Yeah I went to my local fabric store, think it was Hancock fabrics or something like it. Asked the lady some questions about the 3 differnt types of Nylon she had and she just gave me a weird look. They have no idea what denier is I guess or ounces per yard. She said people come in their all the time asking those questions and looking for ripstop nylon. You would think if you have people constantly asking for a product you dont sell, that the light bulb would come on and you would start stocking the product.

Yeah, but...let's be honest. Even if they get folks coming in and asking "all the time", it's likely that those folks are going to buy, what? Maybe twenty yards in a year? Beyond that, and it's worth sourcing online through Magna Fabrics or Ali Baba or one of the other wholesalers out there rather than buying retail.

On the other hand, the quilters in the area will constantly be up there looking for new patterns and the like. And the local high school's Drama department will need to make costumes for every single play, for at least three to five performers (my wife is a Drama teacher, among other things, and trust me, it ain't cheap to do that). Neither of those will care about the weight of the fabric or its resistance to weather, just its hand, drape, and pattern. And they'll be looking for different fabrics and patterns, which means that they won't be going to an wholesaler; they need small amounts of different fabrics rather than large amounts of homogenous patterns.

Anyway, I'm not saying you're wrong; I'm just pointing out why that happens. I don't think it's right, nor do I want to work in an environment where folks don't know their product. On the other hand, understanding the reasoning behind it makes me more tolerant of the end result.

About two years ago walmart was going to get out of the fabric business, then they changed their minds. The other thing is that cotton prices went crazy about the same time that walmart was having this discussion lots of fabric sellers reevaluated the market and lots of the bigger stores cut back or got out of the fabric game at that point.

Our new Walmart (Supercenter btw) is about three years old and originally didn't have a fabric section. This year they brought it back. I called and asked if they had ripstop nylon and they said they didn't. I haven't checked to make sure this is true but that is what the employee said over the phone. They do have a pretty good selection of regular fabrics but I don't think they have many outdoor fabrics. I'll have to check more closely next time I go there.

They do have a pretty good selection of regular fabrics but I don't think they have many outdoor fabrics. I'll have to check more closely next time I go there.

If you are wedded to rip-stop Walmart may not be of much help. I haven't seen ripstop locally for some time. But if you are not overly picky about colors, they do frequently have a fairly good selection of nylon or polyester taffeta. That works wonderfully well for hammocks.

I may be slow... But I sure am gimpy.

"Bless you child, when you set out to thread a needle don't hold the thread still and fetch the needle up to it; hold the needle still and poke the thread at it; that's the way a woman most always does, but a man always does t'other way."
Mrs. Loftus to Huck Finn

If you are wedded to rip-stop Walmart may not be of much help. I haven't seen ripstop locally for some time. But if you are not overly picky about colors, they do frequently have a fairly good selection of nylon or polyester taffeta. That works wonderfully well for hammocks.

Do you happen to know if the poly taffeta at wal mart is labeled as poly taffeta (or what it is labeled as, if it's not)

I was at walmart yesterday, holding what I *think* was crinkle cut poly taffeta, however it was only labeled with a SKU, price ($3 a yd) and the ever descriptive "sample fabric"

I've looked at nearly ever Walmart in the Puget Sound area and of those that have fabric, none of them had rip-stop. One lady said they their store hadn't carried it for years. I'm going to be doing some travel this summer, I'll be stopping at every Walmart between Seattle and Utah... Should be a fun adventure! Maybe we need a google map which locates all the walmarts that carry ripstop!